Photos and notes by Mary Jane Farmer — for many photos, click on the link at the bottom of this page

Bill Hearne has been around since the mid-70s, walking through and enjoying the heyday of the original Texas music revival, aka, the Progressive Country, Redneck Rock, Outlaw music brought to popularity by Hearne and his wife, Bonnie, and peers that include Jerry Jeff Walker, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Willie Nelson, Guy Clark, Billy Joe Shaver, and the ilk.

The story goes that Bill and Bonnie met at Rod Kennedy’s legendary Chequered Flag in Austin. Rod tells it that Bill was on stage and Bonnie in the audience, when she began singing along and harmonizing to Bill’s song. Bill sought her out the break, and the rest is romantic history. That was in the early 70s. Bonnie’s health no longer allows her to travel, so Bill keeps the songs and all they bring to the public alive with solo and sometimes full band sounds.

Well, back to the open mic… Bill Hearne was the featured artist, something that Poor David’s Pub owner David Card and the open mic promoter, Mr. Troll, bring to the show pretty often.

This open mic allows each artist 3 songs before a mic and with a sound system many venues attempt to copy, but somehow it just works better in Poor David’s Pub. Sign-ups begin at 7 p.m., This open mic also is about the singers, most of whom are also songwriters. It is usually the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of the month, somethings, such as Dec.4, which is the 1st Wednesday of December, the open mic is vacated in favor of PDP’s being able to feature a traveling act. On Dec. 4, John Fullbrightwill be featured, with local Troy Cartwright opening.

The MJ Blog

Mary Jane Farmer, Texas Nexus, August 2017 It’s a 3-column list I have worked up — “PACK UP” it’s called. It’s what I have to reference and cling to when getting ready to go to all the music festivals in my life. And there’s a bunch! Me and Hippie Van head out. She has clean […]

Because you asked… The Celebrate Austin Music Festival at Zilker Park, circa April 15, 1984, was filled with Austin-based touring acts with generous sprinklings of up-and-comers. A lot of that information is in Rod Kennedy’s book, Music of the Heart, written many years before his 4-14-14 death. It had been a long three-day event, and […]

This was first in Buddy Magazine, August 2016 issue. People ask me a lot — why am I in the music business? OK, I’ll share the secret – it was a guy who got me into all this. While teaching school in El Paso, I met another teacher, a musician, out there and that chance meeting and […]

(I’m sorry, but we got absolutely NO photos of these people.) Ake Pecha — I was told this means “Start fresh, my friend.” It was probably around 1982 when Kerrville Festival Producer Rod Kennedy took a trip to the southeast, where he met a group of travelers from the Scandinavian countries. This was the “International School […]

This took a lot of prayer and thanksgiving for me to write and publish. This was one changing quote in my life… From the movie “Mozart,” this statement by composer Salleri: “Why?… implant the desire (for music)… like a lust in my body? And then deny me the talent?” Early on, I could not figure out myself […]